Saturday, February 28, 2009

Guyana pension fund loses $5.5m in Stanford deal

Report: A Guyanese pension-fund lost $5.5 million deposited in Stanford International Bank (SIB), President Bharrat Jagdeo said the other day.

Jagdeo told a press conference that the Hand-in-Hand Trust Company had invested four million dollars in Certificates of Deposits on which SIB was ostensibly offering lucrative interest-rates, and 1.5 million in pension funds.

Jagdeo said that the $5.5 million amounted to nine per cent of Hand-in-Hand Trust Company’s assets, adding that Stanford Financials customers would be unable to sell securities until the Houston, Texas-based company’s assets are accounted for.

Stanford Financials receiver, securities Lawyer Ralph Janvey, said customers would be unable to make payments or transfers because the accounts have been frozen for the foreseeable future.Stanford, a wealthy cricket impresario who lives most of the year in the Caribbean, was charged last week by the US Securities and Exchange Commission of lying to investors about the safety and real returns of eight billion dollars in “certificates of deposits” and $1.2 billion in mutual funds.